Persian2English – Blogger Sattar Beheshti, 35, whose blog is “My life for my Iran”, was arrested by FETA (the Islamic Republic’s cyber police) on October 30, 2012. He was charged with “Acting against national security through cyber activities”. Beheshti’s family was told to collect his dead body on November 6, 2012. According to the family, he was in good health before his arrest and detention.
Below is an English translation of a recent letter Giti Pourfazel, the lawyer for Sattar’s family, wrote to the new President of the Islamic Republic regime, Hassan Rouhani. The letter has been translated by Siavosh Jalili.
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In the name of the God of wisdom and soul:
Dear Mr. Rouhani, the Iranian people’s sage and enlightened President-elect,
We are pleased that you were able to bring together people of similar and dissimilar views and demands: the young and the old and those from various social layers.
The voters turned you into a sturdy symbol of their wishes and demands, the greatest of which is a proud standing of this ancient land in the eyes of the world. The next demand is to bring order to the economic and social fissures, and to create a cultural ambiance far from irrationalities and superstitions. Given the paradigm shift of lifestyles in the modern world, our laws should manifest their dynamism by keeping up with changes and shifts. This can be achieved through implementing the above steps in a variety of fields, and in particular in soothing over the social bumps (and problems).
Lawyer Giti Pourfazel
The development of our youth, who will be the ones to build the future of the country, should be achieved through approaches that are appropriate for contemporary times. They should be educated through the employment of wise and logical methods, and they should be nurtured in effective ways. The goal is for them to implement their intellectual creativity and ideas and to safeguard this divine, rich gem of a land which our ancestors have left as a legacy. You presented your views through solid words and arguments, and discovered how people judged you and turned to you at the same time. I look upon your view that everyone is equal before the law with much admiration. I interpret it as revival of the articles of the constitution of which there is nothing left but a name and which have been willfully buried in oblivion. You have also mentioned civil rights and gave hope to the hopeless so that some of the forgotten citizens, who not only have lost their rights but also their livelihood for the beliefs they hold, could once again light up the flame of justice in their heart and look forward to a brighter future.
I apologize for having to open up the pains that have been concealed in my heart in order to discuss people’s open wounds, which have not had a chance to heal as it has faced the slight and scorn of the previous governments. What I need to discuss is inequality in applying the law and injustices imposed on the people of our country.
The reason I claim that principles laid out in the constitutions have been ignored is that as a certified lawyer, I am in touch with different layers of society, and I have represented countless cases in the courts. One of these cases is that of Sattar Beheshti.
Seven months has passed since his family came to see me, and eight months since a case has been filed relating to his murder in November 2012. However, there have been no follow ups from the court, and I have not received any notice for a court appointment.
This is not a complicated case: FETA (Iran’s Cyber Police), whose task is to browse and search cyberspace and check the contents of websites and blogs, came across Sattar Beheshti’s writings about ever-increasing inflations, economic collapse, and people’s poverty—issues that hold true today. They identified the blog’s author, and on October 17, 2012, four FETA agents raided his home. According to his family, they arrested him without presenting any warrant. He was transferred to Evin Prison after preliminary interrogations. His fellow inmates in Evin testify that his body was covered in bruises and he was in a poor emotional state. Once again, FETA took him away, to an undisclosed location where he lost his life during the interrogations. On October 24, 2012, his family was contacted and asked to collect his body.
According to Sattar Beheshit’s family, FETA hurriedly buried him, and then threatened Sattar’s mother, sister, brother, and brother-in-law that they have an arrest warrant for Sahar Beheshti (Sattar’s Sister) and would arrest her unless the family agrees to not pursue Sattars case. Fearing her daughter would suffer the same fate as her son, Sattar’s mother signed the consent letter. FETA police, content that armed with the letter it would not be faced with further probolems, transferred Sattar’s case from Branch 3 to Branch 1 of the Investigations court. However, they ignored the fact that the so-called letter of consent is subject to many legal objections, and it is not legally valid as it was obtained before the murderer was identified.
Sattar's mother holds a picture of her murdered son
On November 8, 2012 I signed on as attorney of Sattar’s case. I protested against the letter of consent that was signed under coercion. In order to prevent the process from slowing down, I submitted a Power of Attorney letter signed by Sattar Beheshti’s father. Since then, I have been looking forward to see the case file so that I could study it and prepare my case in defense of the family of the victim.
It has been eight months since the case was filed, and the culprit for the murder, who is a FETA agent, has been identified. Despite this, the case file is gathering dust in its investigation phase and has not been forwarded to the court.
I apologize for taking your time, but I would like to point out how some government organizations, through their flagrant disregard for the rights of citizens, spread injustice in society and display oppression (with all its unpleasant aspects) before the eyes of the people. I hope that during your presidential term, we will not witness such inimical conduct from any organization whose actions sow the seeds of despair in our country.
I wish for your success in carrying out the heavy responsibilities that you have undertaken as President.
Sincerely,
Giti Fazelpour
1st Degree Certified Lawyer
1st Degree Certified Lawyer
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